> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://degen-games-2.gitbook.io/degen-games-docs/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://degen-games-2.gitbook.io/degen-games-docs/how-the-game-works/snipe-protection.md).

# Snipe Protection

The first 3 seconds of every launch belong to players, not bots.

A coin is most exposed in its first moments. A bot watching the chain can buy a brand-new curve before any human has seen it, then sell into the players who arrive a minute later. Degen Games makes that unprofitable.

## The snipe tax

|                      |                                          |
| -------------------- | ---------------------------------------- |
| **Window**           | The first **3 seconds** after launch     |
| **Starting rate**    | Up to **99%** of the buy                 |
| **Decay**            | Falls to **0%** by the end of the window |
| **Applies to**       | Buys only. **Selling is never taxed.**   |
| **After the window** | Nothing. The tax is gone for good.       |

Being first isn't worth it when the first seconds cost almost everything you put in. A normal player, arriving a few seconds later, pays nothing extra.

The tax is capped so that at least 1% of every buy always reaches the curve. A sniped buy is expensive, but it never comes back empty.

## Where the tax goes

The snipe tax isn't burned. It joins the coin's trading fee and is split in the same proportion: 30% of it to the platform (for the [buyback and burn](/degen-games-docs/usdmanyu/buyback-and-burn.md)) and 70% to the creator. What a sniper gives up flows back into the game.

## Who's exempt

* **The launching wallet.** Your own wallet, automatically.
* **The fee recipient.** Automatically.
* **Team wallets.** Up to 31 addresses that you list at launch under **TEAM WALLETS — FREE OF SNIPE TAX**.
* **Your dev buy.** It lands in the launch transaction itself, so nobody can get in ahead of it.

The exemption list is **fixed at launch**. Nobody can add to it afterwards.

## Locked in per coin

Each coin keeps a copy of the snipe terms it launched with. If the platform changes the window or starting rate for future launches, coins already trading keep their original terms. You can read both on each coin's curve: `snipeTaxSeconds()` and `snipeTaxStartBps()`.

{% hint style="info" %}
**Building a bot or router?** Read `currentSnipeTaxBps(recipient)` on the curve before you quote a buy in a coin's first seconds. It's keyed to the wallet that receives the tokens. See [Trading & Quoting](/degen-games-docs/developers/trading-and-quoting.md).
{% endhint %}


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